


I Caught You A Star

by LycoRogue



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Adult Cast, Complicated Plan, F/M, Gerald Johanssen / Phoebe Heyerdahl, Marriage Proposal, Star Gazing, Star Registry, meteor shower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LycoRogue/pseuds/LycoRogue
Summary: Super uber Arnold and Helga fluff originally written for 2011's Valentine's Day.Something special goes down up on Wells Ridge during an early morning meteor shower. Something that Arnold has meticulously planned for quite some time. Now, can his best laid plans work out for him?Mostly G-Rated, but marked Teen for two brief moments of implied "adult behavior" as well as some minor cursing.





	1. I Caught You A Star

**Author's Note:**

> Back in 2011, I was still relatively new to fanfiction writing; only penning for about half a year. I couldn't miss the opportunity to write some Super Uber Fluff for Valentine's Day, though. I hope you enjoy some of this early work of mine.
> 
> Now, this story is so sweet it just might give you cavities. I apologize for the need to call your dentist once you're done. Fair warning. ^_^

"Come here." Arnold led Helga to the telescope he had nestled on the top of Wells Ridge. He took one last look in the eye piece, fixing it so it was perfectly aimed. He then motioned for Helga to take a look.

The star was gorgeous. It was bright and shimmering and gave off an almost blue light instead of the normal white. It was like a pale sapphire hanging in the sky. It took Helga's breath away. Arnold chuckled behind her when he heard her sigh at the star's beauty.

"Arnold, that star is amazing! How did you find it?" Helga looked away from the telescope and smiled at the beaming Arnold. The twenty-two-year-old stood tall with his chest puffed out. Clearly the man was proud of himself for the discovery. He also had his hands hidden behind his back. Helga tried to peek at what he was holding, but Arnold kept shifting his weight so she couldn't see behind him.

After some playful cat-and-mouse with the hidden object, Arnold finally answered Helga's question. "It was definitely easier to find the star when I had this." He removed his right hand from behind his back and handed Helga a piece of paper with telescopic coordinates written on them. The star map also had a constellation highlighted in yellow with the specific location of the star circled in red.

Helga stared at the paper, trying to understand what was going on. After a minute or two of Helga trying to decipher everything on her own, her face distorted in confusion, Arnold finally decided to end the mystery.

"I'm so glad you like the star, Helga, because it's ours." Helga's eyes darted away from the paper in her hand and caught Arnold's gaze. Shock covered her face. Arnold handed her the other piece of paper he had been hiding behind his back. The page was set up like a certificate with _International Star Registry_  in beautiful calligraphy across the majority of the paper. A paragraph to the lower right had all of the vital information along with congratulations on the registry of the star Arnold showed her. About half way through the paragraph the name for the star that Arnold had submitted was hand written in more beautiful calligraphy. Helga's eyes welled up when she saw what that gorgeous blue star would forever be known as: _Arnold Loves Helga Forever_. He had literally written his love for her in the stars.

"Oh, Arnold." She didn't know what to say. Helga G. Pataki was actually speechless. Arnold had to chuckle once more. If only he knew this was what he had to do to shut her up. He would have done it long ago.

Arnold helped her upright and held on to each of her hands. They just stared at each other for a moment, Helga's eyes sparkling from the thin film of tears covering them.

"That's why I picked that star," Arnold abruptly told her as he looked in to those dazzling eyes.

Confusion returned to Helga's face, "What?"

"That star reminded me of your beautiful eyes - the way it sparkles with that blue light. Although, that star can't have the compassion behind it that your eyes have."

Helga smiled and looked back at the sky. Arnold couldn't register a star that was visible to the naked eye, but it was still easy for her to find the general portion of the sky the star was located. It was nestled close to the horizon among the Aries constellation - her zodiac sign.

"Arnold," she leaned in to his chest, her head nuzzling his shoulder, his chin gently resting on on hers. With a soft tug on his wrists, Helga wrapped his arms around her as they both stared at the constellation, "this is the most amazing thing. I could not imagine a more magical night." They turned their heads towards each other and Arnold sweetly touched Helga's lips with his own. She hugged his arms tighter against her. As he tried to pull away from the sweet, soft kiss, Helga brought her right hand up to his head and held him in place.

With some effort, and another chuckle, Arnold finally pulled away from Helga's hungry lips. She twisted around in his embrace so she was facing him and attempted to bring him in for another kiss. Now fully laughing at her, Arnold leaned back an inch for every one she leaned forward, keeping his mouth safely away from hers.

She glared at him and tried to climb up him in order to reach his lips. She would not be denied. Laughing some more, Arnold broke away from her and backed out of arm's reach. Helga proceeded to chase Arnold, who jogged backwards and bobbed out of Helga's grasp as if he were a masterful matador. The two laughed as the chase continued.

After about five minutes, Arnold abruptly stood still and caught hold of Helga as she crashed in to him, finally allowing her to kiss him with the passion he had grown accustom to. She only pulled away from him when both their breathing became labored.

A few deep breathes later; Arnold lowered Helga back down to the blanket he had laid out on the grass next to the telescope. "The evening isn't done quite yet," he cooed as he lay next to Helga on the blanket.

"Football Head, you dirty man," Helga smirked as she rolled over and straddled Arnold, starting to unbutton his shirt.

"Helga! Not that!" Arnold blushed and rolled Helga back off of him.

She laughed, "Sorry, Shortman, honest mistake." He awkwardly rebuttoned his shirt as she stretched out next to him, snuggling up against his chest.

He looked down at the beautiful blonde resting across him and he wrapped his arm around her. She yawned and complained about still being up at such a late hour. Arnold checked his watch and allowed her to take a brief nap before the next event were to occur. Helga tried questioning him about what they could possibly be doing at two in the morning, but she quickly passed out in his warm embrace.

Arnold took his golden opportunity to quickly text Gerald to see if everything was set for the main event. Gerald responded that everything was in position. He then added that Helga better appreciate everything considering the hour.

Arnold spent the next forty-five minutes watching Helga doze in his arms. His free hand delicately brushed her bangs out of her eyes. He envisioned lying in bed with Helga like this for the rest of his life. He smiled as he pictured brushing her gray hair out of her face as she slept. His grandparents were so much in love their whole lives - all the way back to when his grandmother used to torture her future husband when they were just children. Phil and Gertrude's romance blossomed similarly to his and Helga's, and Arnold prayed his would last just as long and burn as strongly.

A little alarm on Arnold's phone woke Helga up. His warm smile greeted her as she stretched and curled out of his arms. She leaned over him and gave him a deep but sweet kiss.

"So what's the next surprise?" Helga tucked her hair behind her ear as she grinned. Excitement twinkled in her still-sleepy eyes.

Arnold looked past Helga and up at the sky. Not quite yet. He distracted her by bringing her back in for a kiss. He pulled her down onto him, and as they kissed he rolled her over so he was now on top. Once his lungs burned for air he pulled away and stared at his beautiful angel looking up at him. She smiled and moved to kiss him again when something caught her eye. She gasped as her whole face lit up. Arnold smiled knowingly and rolled back off of Helga so she could get a better view.

The two watched the beautiful early morning meteor shower as it streaked overhead. Helga again cozied up against Arnold's chest as he kept her warm in his arms. The white glow of the meteor shower raced across the sky above them. After about three minutes of watching the stars with Helga, Arnold's attention turned to the woman's face. He watched her eyes grow wide as each meteor flew by; her smile spreading in wonderment.

As he watched Helga, Arnold bit his lip in anxiety and struggled to keep his breathing steady so Helga wouldn't catch on that there was still one last surprise. His eyes darted between Helga, the sky, and the woods surrounding Wells Ridge. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.

Finally the perfect moment occurred. A meteor streaked by at just the right angle that it disappeared in to the treetops. Excitedly, Arnold jumped up, jolting Helga forward.

"Arnold? What on Earth?"

Embarrassed, Arnold sheepishly looked down at the now scowling blonde. "Sorry, Helga. It's just I thought I saw one of the meteorites drop in to the woods!"

"The woods? Here? Really?" Arnold helped her stand up and she quickly turned towards the woods, the meteor shower still going on overhead.

"Come on, let's see if we can find where it landed," Arnold encouraged as he tugged on her arm slightly, directing her to follow. With that sparkle of excitement she always had when they went on adventures, Helga nodded and allowed Arnold to pull her.

Trying to choke down his excitement and nervousness, Arnold sprinted off into the woods with Helga in tow. She was fast and kept pace with him easily, but he needed to get to the landing point first. He let go of her hand and tried to push hard to get a lead on her. They raced through the trees and Arnold kept calling back directions to Helga. Finally, the largest oak tree in the area slowly came in to view.

Arnold panicked a little to see Gerald still standing by the tree. He was going to ruin everything if Helga spotted him. Luckily, Gerald also saw Arnold sprinting towards him, and he quickly picked up his shovel before running into the treeline to hide. Arnold glanced back at Helga. She didn't seem to have seen his best friend awkwardly sprinting into the woods. Good.

As they got closer to the oak tree, Arnold saw the masterpiece Gerald had been working on for the past hour or so. In the ground was a long trench with glowing pieces of charcoal around it. The effect was masterful and it definitely looked like a meteorite landing.

Arnold managed to get to the trench first and found the small piece of rock he instructed Gerald to nestle into it. This was their meteorite; still about the size of a baseball. As Arnold leaned down to pick it up Helga arrived. She gasped at the sight.

"A-Arnold! It's really here! We found a meteorite!" Her eyes scanned the scene and a huge grin stretched across her face.

"Helga, come here and look at this," Arnold held out his right hand for her to take. She looked in awe at the stone. As Arnold reached down to pick it up, Helga warned how hot it must still be, but Arnold gripped her hand tighter and told her not to worry.

With some more acting, Arnold carefully touched the stone as if checking the temperature. After verifying that it was safe to touch, he scooped it up with his left hand and motioned to show it off to Helga. As she reached out to touch the stone, Arnold called out her name; distracting her.

"Yes, Arnold?" She was confused yet again. She pulled on her arm, trying to help Arnold to his feet, but he resisted her help, instead staying down on his knee. This confused her even more.

"Helga, my love," Arnold started, his voice shaking, "my life has been so amazing, and it is largely because you were in it. You have this spunk and kindness and daring about you. You don't bend or break. You stand up for what you believe in, and I'm so honored that one of the things you believed in was my love for you. Your magnificence is stuff the stars are made out of and someone as amazing as you deserves the whole heavens."

Arnold pulled his right hand from the stunned Helga and placed it on top of the rock. He then opened the rock using the hidden hinge. The biggest challenge Arnold had when setting up this evening was finding a way to turn his amethyst stone into a ring box.

"Unfortunately," Arnold continued as he slowly opened his custom-made ring box, "this was the only star I could catch." Fixed into the stone was a beautiful diamond ring. Even in the dim light of the night sky, the gem still shimmered. Helga gasped as she realized what exactly was happening.

Arnold was undeterred, he still had more to his speech, and even though he knew what her answer would be he still needed to finish. "However, I will spend the rest of my days trying to catch you the rest of the galaxy if you will just have me as your husband."

Helga didn't even bother answering in syllables; she just squealed and leapt into his arms, knocking poor Arnold over. They laughed as she lay on top of him, hugging and kissing him. For the first time in his life, he kissed Helga with as much hunger and need as she always kissed him. He wanted to suffocate himself with her lips. He held her tight; hugging his future bride with all his strength.

Long minutes past before he gently pushed Helga off of him so they could both sit up. "Does this mean 'yes'?" he joked as he held out the ring again. Helga nodded so violently he was afraid her head would pop off. She started screaming the word 'yes' repetitively as she shoved her left hand in his face. He laughed again and kissed her ring finger as he slid the ring on.

With another squeal, Helga jumped to her feet and started waving her hand around, staring at the glimmer coming off of the stone. With a quick movement, Helga whipped out her cell phone and speed-dialed Phoebe. Arnold smiled at his fiancé as she excitedly told her best friend the news.

Gerald snuck out from the treeline, careful to make sure Helga still didn't see him. With a pat on Arnold's shoulder he whispered a "congratulations" to him. Arnold whispered back his gratitude for all of Gerald's help. They did their personal handshake and Gerald slinked off home before Helga could catch him. Arnold goofily stared at his amazing future wife and knew he was starting the greatest adventure the two ever embarked on.


	2. Clumsily Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Could Arnold's proposal really have gone that smoothly? Was Helga truly his bride-to-be?

"Hey Arnold. Hey Arnold. Hey Arnold. Hey-" Without opening his eyes, Arnold threw his arm up and pulled a wire out of the potato that fueled his eco-friendly alarm clock. Helga teased him for not only still having the damn thing, but actually making a new one after all these years. He couldn't help it, though. Even in his twenties, he loved the idea of his personalized science-fair alarm clock. He couldn't bear to replace it, even with Helga's ridicule.

Helga. His future bride. The eventual mother of his unborn children. His world.

Smiling at the thought, Arnold finally opened his eyes, fully expecting to see the long blonde hair of his fiancé. Instead, he just saw the other side of his room. Surprised, he looked down at what his arm was still embracing. A pillow.

Arnold hectically glanced around the room for her, and his eyes caught his desk. Sitting in a neat pile was the smooth, grayish-brown surface of his amethyst ring box, the two rolled-up documents from the International Star Registry, and the same telescope he and Gerald ate fifty boxes of Sugar Chunks in order to get when they were nine. It was all there, piled up exactly the way he had it two nights ago.

No, not two nights ago; last night. It was only last night that he had everything set for his proposal. The proposal he hadn't given to Helga yet.

A dream. That proposal was only a dream. That's why he couldn't find her this morning. She wasn't here, waking up in his arms. She was still living in her own apartment cross town. That was why he could have his plans scattered throughout his bedroom.

Arnold climbed out of bed both nervous about that evening's events and empowered by how well everything turned out in his dream. He and Gerald had been working on this for months now, and everything was planned out perfectly.

The star was registered and he received the documents in the mail a week ago. He had researched when the soonest meteor shower would occur and made sure the star was registered with tonight's date. He had Helga's ring for almost five months now, and was thrilled she hadn't found it on him all this time. To be fair though, it was probably pretty stupid to carry her ring with him everywhere he went. He just liked looking at the diamond sparkle and picturing it on her finger.

The best part was the jeweler recognizing Helga's name when Arnold mentioned it in passing. Turned out he was the same man Helga frequented whenever she upgraded her locket. Arnold had to smile when he thought of her going to the jeweler since she was about seven in order to keep her secret locket of Arnold updated. She threatened him each time that he better not tell anyone about it, and even forgot to actually pay the man a few times. Oh, Helga definitely made an impression on him.

Still, Arnold guessed she had made amends over the years, because the jeweler seemed to think kindly of his patron. In fact, he was the one who had suggested the craftsman that turned Arnold's old amethyst stone into Helga's engagement ring box. It seemed fitting for Arnold to use the stone his mother brought him from a dig; tying two out of the three most important women of his life together. Arnold's grandmother, the third most important woman, had another large nod: the setting for Helga's engagement ring was once Gertie's. Everything just seemed to tie so neatly together. There was just no way this night wouldn't be perfect.

* * *

The phone rang. Arnold quickly finished up his shower and threw a towel around himself as he sprinted towards the phone, informing the caller that he'll be "right there" and to "hold on."

"Arnold, did you hear the weather report?" Gerald's voice seemed tight with concern. When Arnold informed him that he hadn't had a chance yet, Gerald continued, "It's supposed to be pouring tonight, man! Are we still doing this?"

Rain? Tonight? Arnold quickly switched on his computer and searched the internet for the weather report for early next morning. With a sigh of relief, Arnold finally responded, "It's supposed to stop around midnight. The ground may be soaked, but we should still be able to see the meteor shower. We're still on, but you might want to wear boots or something when making the trench. Also, taking a nap on a picnic blanket may not be the best idea either. I'm probably going to have to push back the Wells Ridge thing until about one-thirty or so."

Gerald gave a quick good bye and hung up. Arnold, now running late, rushed around his apartment in an attempt to get to work on time. As he closed his door behind him he glanced across the full length of his loft. His eyes landed on the amethyst, and the ring that he wouldn't be taking with him to work for the first time in months. With a grin, he locked up and headed to the subway.

* * *

"Helga, you look amazing." Arnold opened his apartment door and couldn't stop himself from gawking at his beautiful girlfriend.

Helga cocked an eyebrow, "Are you kidding? In this frock?" She did a little turn for Arnold. She had on a tight, pink, long-sleeve shirt with one of his red, plaid, button-down shirts over it; the length dangling over her jeans. Arnold had to chuckle at the fact that his shirt looked a little like a dress on the girl who used to always be inches taller than him. He had a second chuckle as he remembered that Helga used to say his untucked plaid shirts under his sweaters looked like kilts, and now it was her turn to sport that look.

Helga stopped twirling and placed her hands on her hips, playfully glaring at Arnold's laughing. "Shut up, Football Head! You're the one who told me to dress warm for our 'nature outing'. It's not my fault I ended up looking like a lumber jack. It's all I have right now."

Arnold slid his arms between hers and wrapped them around her waist; pulling her in. "Well you're the cutest lumber jack I've ever seen. I even thought so back in fourth grade." He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Oh God!" Helga leaned away from him, getting a better look at his face, "You mean when Pink Boy and I got our aptitude tests switched and I thought I was only qualified to be a woodsman?"

Arnold chuckled, "You were cute in those overalls, pink plaid shirt, and, of course, your bow."

Helga playfully pushed him and they proceeded to have a tickle match for the next five minutes. Laughing, they finally collapsed onto Arnold's floor and attempted to catch their breath. Helga didn't really give their lungs much chance to recover before she pulled Arnold close for a kiss. It was one of her normal, deep, passionate kisses. It was as if she feared she only had this one last kiss to express all of her love.

Nearly suffocated, Arnold finally pried Helga off of him and ushered her to his kitchen table. Since the rain ruined his original plans of a stargazing picnic out on Wells Ridge, Arnold shifted gears and made a dinner to share in his apartment. Sure, it didn't seem as romantic as his original plan, but he was flexible. Nothing else could ruin this evening.

* * *

Dinner was horrible. Somehow, Arnold managed to overcook the meat and yet undercook the green beans. Everything was either dry and tough, or cold and crunchy. He couldn't believe how badly everything turned out. Thank god he had a loaf of bread and some peanut butter in the house. After Helga attempted a few bites and bluntly told Arnold how horrible the cooking was, she offered to make them some sandwiches instead. Arnold kept fixating on the dinner and wondering how he screwed up so badly, but Helga just laughed at him as she spread the peanut butter on to the bread.

Once they finished eating Helga's sandwiches and the table was cleaned off, Arnold motioned for Helga to escort herself out of his apartment. As they left he quickly scooped up the oversized bag he kept the child's telescope in. He did always mean to purchase a new one, but the children's telescope still seemed to work fine, and it had sentimental value to it.

Motioning as if he were turning off his apartment lights, Arnold stole a quick glance into the telescope bag to make sure the two star certificates were properly tucked inside. Gerald had already stopped by the apartment earlier in order to pick up the ring and the bag of charcoal Arnold had purchased for the "landing site" Gerald was commissioned to make that night.

Helga took a catnap in the car as Arnold drove up to Wells Ridge. Even though he had instructed her to take a nap after work that day, Helga informed him that she just couldn't fall asleep at six, with the sun still up. Arnold hoped she would be awake enough for this evening to still go as planned.

It was the weather that ended up messing with Arnold's itinerary. He had pushed back their arrival time in order to avoid the rain, but the sky was still overcast. Helga grumbled that it was too cloudy to stargaze and that they should just go back to his place. Undeterred, Arnold still set up his telescope and adjusted it to the coordinates of their star. To make sure Helga didn't see the registry information prematurely, Arnold had written the coordinates down on a piece of paper. He didn't need it though; he had gazed at the beautiful blue star every night since he received the certificates in the mail. The coordinates were already committed to memory.

Once the telescope was set, Arnold tried to entertain Helga while they waited for the clouds to disperse. He hoped that the sky would be clear by two o'clock at the latest. No matter how hard he tried to keep her occupied, Helga still complained about being cold and bored, and again requested going back to Arnold's place.

Arnold tried to keep his trademark optimism, but he was no Eugene. His throat locked up the more Helga got irritated. He wanted this night to be so memorable, but he didn't want it to be memorable because of how disastrous it was. When she asked for the fifth time why they needed to stay out he decided to just go ahead and jump the gun. He wasn't sure she'd have time to see the star before the shower anyway.

With a sigh he walked over to his oversized bag and handed her the star coordinates sheet, but not with the same amount of playfulness as he did in his dream. Helga, however, did seem fairly similar to her dream self. With her face distorted in confusion, Helga stared at the star map.

"What's this for? Why is this star circled?" she pointed to the star marked in red in the Aries constellation.

"That's what I wanted you to see tonight," Arnold sheepishly told her. "I wish you could have seen it. It has the most beautiful pale blue light. It sort of reminds me of your gorgeous eyes."

A smile crept back on to Helga's lips and her eyes lit up. "That's really sweet, Arnold." She hugged him close and leaned her head on his chest. "I'm sorry I was such a crank. That was a really sweet thought. Perhaps we can try again tomorrow night or the one after that or the one after that. I'll get around to seeing that star. Don't fret, my love." She gave him one of her rare, sweet, delicate pecks.

"Well," Arnold pulled away from Helga and reached into his telescope bag for the other certificate, "it was really important to me that you saw the star tonight."

"Why is tonight so important? Is it about to implode or something?"

"Dear lord I hope not!" Arnold calmed himself and held out the other piece of paper. He kept it out of Helga's outstretched hand until he was done with his mini-speech. "You see. I wanted you to know something tonight – specifically tonight – and it sort of goes along with the star. And, well-" He heaved a heavy sigh, "I was supposed to lead you to the telescope and you would see this beautiful blue star that would take your breath away the same way you take mine whenever I see you. And then, while you were still amazed by its beauty, I would hand you this paper."

Helga reached out and finally managed to take the certificate from Arnold's hand. As she carefully unrolled the certificate with _International Star Registry_  in beautiful calligraphy across the majority of the paper, Arnold's dream re-enacted in front of him. Her eyes shot up towards Arnold, clearly knowing that he had registered a name for that beautiful blue star he so desperately wanted her to see. He gave her a soft smile and her eyes quickly scanned the paragraph to the lower right corner. Breezing through all of the vital information along with congratulations on the registry, Helga's eyes suddenly widened and sparkled from the fresh tears dewing. Arnold knew she had found the name he gave the star: _Arnold Loves Helga Forever_.

"Oh, Arnold." Just as in his dream, the surprise had left Helga G. Pataki speechless. She only expressed her true feelings the best way she knew; she wrapped her arms around Arnold's neck and kissed him. She then snuggled close to Arnold, nuzzling his chest, and squeezing him tight. "Helga loves Arnold forever, too."

Arnold held her just as tight. Even if the evening leading up to this moment hadn't gone according to plan, at least this part was perfect. He just hoped the clouds would disperse in time for the main event. As much as he loved Helga's reaction to her star, it would mean nothing if she wasn't his fiancé by the time this day was through.

Thinking that the mystery of the "nature outing" was solved, Helga attempted to lead Arnold back to his car so they could finally go inside where it was warm and less muddy. They still had a little time before the meteor shower was supposed to start, and Arnold wasn't even sure they'd be able to see it; so he agreed to follow her to the car after packing everything up.

Helga was easily distracted with some necking in the front seat of Arnold's car. Their mini-make-out session was cut short when Arnold's phone alarm went off.

"Why on Earth do you have your alarm set for two AM?" Helga groaned.

Arnold motioned for Helga to get comfortable and look out the windshield, "Our main event starts now. That is, if we can see through the clouds." They both stared at the sky, Arnold leaning up against his steering wheel in an attempt to see higher in the stratosphere.

Five minutes passed. Then Ten. Almost fifteen minutes had passed without a single thing happening above them. Helga was getting antsy again, and Arnold was feverously trying to think of another way to get the meteorite proposal to work. Then something ran through Arnold's peripheral. He turned to Helga at the sound of her gasp. She had seen what he had caught in the corner of his eye; he could tell from the way her face had lit up.

"Oh, Arnold! Another one!" Helga was like a child as she tugged on his sleeve and pointed through the windshield. Yes, even with the sky still being overcast, the clouds had cleared up enough to see a few meteors as they raced across the horizon. Helga again snuggled up to Arnold and watched the meteor shower as if they were watching the Fourth of July fireworks – or the Thanksgiving fireworks in Arnold's case. Arnold watched her eyes grow wide with each passing meteor; her smile growing wide in wonderment.

Imitating his dream, Arnold anxiously bit his lip as he watched Helga and hoped she didn't notice his heart racing or his breathing shake. He didn't want to alert her to the last surprise. He wished he had the same opportunity to contact Gerald that he had in his dream. He needed to know that everything was set. He tried to reach for his cellphone to quickly text his best friend, but Helga was currently snuggled up against the pocket it was in. There was no way he would be able to get it out without her noticing. He just needed to trust his friend at this point.

His eyes darted between Helga, the sky, and the woods surrounding Wells Ridge. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Finally he caught sight of a meteor streak by at just the right angle that it disappeared in to the treetops. Excitedly, Arnold bolted upright, jolting Helga forward.

"Arnold? What on Earth?"

Arnold nervously laughed as he stared at the blonde, now scowling as she did in his dream. He'd take it; if she reacted this similarly to the dream, perhaps the proposal will go as planned after all. "Sorry, Helga, I didn't mean to toss you like that. It's just I thought I saw one of the meteorites drop in to the woods!"

"The woods? Here? Really?" Excitedly, Helga kicked open Arnold's passenger door and jumped out of his car. "Well, come on, Arnoldo; let's see if we can find it!" Arnold looked bewildered at her. She had taken his line. She was the one that wanted to go on the hunt. Well, it just might work in his favor still. Either way, they'd be running towards the engagement ring. He just hoped she wouldn't take the lead.

Arnold quickly locked his car and pointed towards the largest oak on Wells Ridge. He tried to be vague in the directions so Helga wouldn't find the amethyst first, "I think it went in that direction."

With that sparkle of excitement she always had when they went on adventures, Helga sprinted in the direction Arnold gave. "Well, come on then, Football Head!"

Trying to choke down his excitement and nervousness, Arnold sprinted off in to the woods behind Helga. He tried desperately to take the lead from her. But Helga was fast, and when he couldn't overtake her, he started to give her wrong directions. While she ran off to the left, he kept going straight, and eventually called her back onto the path. He now had the advantage. Finally, the largest oak tree in the area came into view.

For a brief moment Arnold was relieved he didn't see Gerald as he did in his dream. The man knew to stay out of sight so Helga wouldn't spot him. But that moment became too brief when Arnold realized that he didn't see the charcoal-lined trench either. He reached the oak and ran around it a few times, perplexed.

"Well, bucko, where is it?" Helga ran up next to him. Arnold didn't know how to respond. Gerald had more than enough time. Why wasn't the trench made? More importantly, where was his ring? He needed a way to distract Helga so he could find out where Gerald was.

"I could have sworn it looked like it landed here. You look over there and I'll look this way. Maybe I got the angle wrong." Arnold pointed Helga off to the woods. She nodded in agreeance and ran off. To make sure Helga wouldn't get suspicious, Arnold also ran off in the direction he pointed his search to be. It also gave him a larger birth to make sure Helga wouldn't catch him calling.

"Yo, man, what are you calling me for? Isn't Helga gonna catch you?"

"Gerald, where the hell are you?" Arnold tried to keep his voice down and keep the panic from slipping into it.

"Don't worry, I'm hidden, man."

"No, I mean where. The hell. Are you? I can't find the trench!"

"I'm right by that big rock that sort of looks like Sheena's uncle."

"Big rock?" A panicked bite jumped in to Arnold's voice. He could tell he made Gerald jump on the other side of the phone. "Gerald! I told you the tall oak, not the Seadog boulder!"

"Oh, well, snap! Sorry, man, my bad."

"Gerald, you're on the other side of Wells Ridge! Now what am I going to do? Helga's not going to believe I messed up the trajectory so much as to run her through the wrong side of the woods! And I don't think I can fake a star falling again. Not after this wild goose chase."

"Calm down, we'll think of something. If not, we can just wait for the next meteor shower."

"Gerald, I specifically had the star dated for tonight so it could commemorate our engagement. It would be all messed up if I didn't propose tonight."

"Alright, well, what do you want to do?"

Arnold shuffled around, kicking the dirt. What was he going to do now?

"Hey, Arnold!" He jumped at Helga's voice. Without even saying goodbye, Arnold quickly hung up on Gerald and stashed his phone in his pocket.

"Find anything?" he called out to her.

"What were you just doing?" Helga's hands went up on to her hips in her scolding manner.

"Searching for the meteorite, but I don't think it fell here after all," he allowed his disappointment to coat his words.

"Who were you on the phone with?"

"Phone?"

"You were on the phone when I called out to you. Who were you talking to?"

Arnold tried to think of a lie, but he never was very good at it. Perhaps honesty was the best policy. Or at least half-truths were, "Oh, yeah, it was just Gerald. He wanted to know how our evening went."

"He woke himself up at two in the morning just to see how our date went? He couldn't wait until later today?"

"I guess he was still awake. The guy does stay up late from time to time."

"uh-huh," clearly Helga wasn't convinced, but she stopped questioning him regardless.

"Sorry I had us run around out here for nothing." Arnold tried to distract her from his phone call by reminding her of the meteorite chase. "Maybe we can watch the rest of the shower if we get back up to the car fast enough."

Helga looked up and noticed a few more stars racing above them. "Nah, we can see them through the tree tops, let's just stroll back." She took his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled back down at her, pulled his arm out of her embrace, and wrapped it around her instead. Thankfully, they enjoyed the walk together in silence. It gave him the time to figure out how to propose now that his original plan flopped.

He hated being mad at Gerald, but this evening was derailed so many times already, he just wanted this one thing to be perfect. Why else would he spend the time and money to get the ring box crafted? He watched a few more meteors fly overhead. None of them were going in the direction of the boulder Gerald was at. How was he supposed to get her there?

Stealing another look at Helga contently leaning on his shoulder, he noticed her eyes closed in complete trust of his guiding her back to the car. Maybe he could redirect them towards the boulder without her noticing. No, at this pace it would take a good fifteen minutes to get to the boulder. Arnold doubted she'd keep her eyes closed that long, and as soon as she noticed that they were off the trail she'd get suspicious. He decided to instead take the opportunity to text Gerald to just bring the rock up to the water tower. Perhaps he can get Helga to believe a meteorite dropped there while they were gone. Could be the same effect.

Yet again, nothing could go right. Gerald attempted to quickly make a dent in the ground at the top of Wells Ridge, so that it looked like the stone made some sort of impact when it landed. Arnold appreciated the attempt and the amount of effort his best friend was putting in to this proposal – and he knew he was going to have to go through just as much trouble when it was Gerald's turn to ask Phoebe. However, Gerald didn't finish quite fast enough and Helga caught him still digging.

"What on Earth are you doing up here?" Helga broke away from Arnold and started to stomp towards the surprised black man.

As Gerald tried to come up with a plausible excuse, Arnold tried to deter Helga. Finally, Arnold again came up with "Half-truths are the best policy."

"I told Gerald about the meteor shower a couple of days ago, and when he called before I told him about the meteorite. My guess is that he's here to help look for it."

Always the improv master, Gerald jumped right in, "Actually, I wanted to see Helga racing through the mud, but when I got up here I noticed something in the ground. You caught me trying to pick it up with this shovel. Think it's your meteorite, Arnold?"

Arnold looked down at the little divot his best friend had managed to make before he and Helga showed up. Unfortunately the amethyst was lying next to the hole. Helga noticed that too.

"Alright, Geraldo, if you were picking this rock up with your shovel, why did it look like you were digging, and why is the rock beside the hole instead of in it?"

"You startled me and I dropped the rock when I scooped it out with the shovel. That's why." Gerald smirked at Helga. He was pretty sure he covered his trail. Arnold turned to see if she really did buy it.

Nope. "Alright boys, what is this all about?"

Arnold tried to come up with some other excuse, but ended up tripping over his own tongue. Gerald just placed a hand on Arnold shoulder, "You should probably just pick up the rock."

Arnold understood what Gerald meant, but he didn't want to propose to an angry Helga. However, this seemed to be the only way to salvage the rollercoaster night. With a soft nod he knelt down to pick up the rock.

He stayed down on one knee as he turned towards Helga, rock in hand. He didn't even get a chance to give any sort of speech. Helga just gasped and started shouting, "Oh my God, you're not!" She started excitedly hitting him in the shoulders, making Arnold gently laugh. He should have known she would figure out what he was planning.

He grabbed one of her hands as she hit him, stopping her giddy onslaught. They stared into each other's eyes. Helga brought her free hand up to her mouth and tried to calm herself. "Oh my God, Arnold, oh my God!" Arnold laughed again as a high pitched squeal abruptly squeaked out from behind her hand.

Arnold deeply inhaled through his nose and then blew all the air back out, composing himself. With a straight face he started his speech. "Helga, my love," his voice wasn't as shaky as it was in his dream, but then again, it was clear what Helga's answer was. His only fear was not remembering everything he wanted to say. "My life has been so amazing, and I know it's largely because you've been a part of it. A large part of it. You just have this spunk and daring, but also this softness and kindness about you. You don't bend or break. You stand up for what you believe in, just like I do. And the fact that one of those things you believed in was my love for you – it's just an honor to have so much of your faith. Your magnificence is stuff the stars are made out of and someone as amazing as you deserves the whole heavens."

Helga calmed at Arnold's words. Her face softened and tears clung to her eyelashes. Arnold pulled his right hand from her and placed it on top of the rock. "Unfortunately," Arnold continued as he slowly opened his custom-made ring box, "this was the only star I could catch."

"Oh, Arnold." Stunned by the beauty of the diamond, Helga's response was more of a sigh. Even in the dim light of the night sky, the gem still shimmered with a faint purple hue reflected from the amethyst holding it.

Arnold pulled the ring out of its stone box and placed the amethyst on to the ground. Taking Helga's left hand back, he finished his proposal. "However, I will spend the rest of my days trying to catch you the rest of the galaxy if you will just have me as your husband."

Helga didn't even bother answering in syllables; as Arnold's dream predicted, she just squealed and leapt in to his arms, knocking him over. They laughed as she lay on top of him, hugging and kissing him. Gerald stifled a laugh himself.

Arnold remembered one of his favorite parts from his dream and decided to imitate it. He pulled Helga in and kissed her with the same passion and force she always kissed him. She'd finally know how her kisses felt. She was surprised by his drive at first, but quickly met his hunger with her own; their lips battling for supremacy. He held her tight; hugging his future bride with all his strength.

Feeling a little awkward watching them, Gerald cleared his throat. He always seemed to find a way to interrupt their "major event" kisses. First her love confession, then his, then their reunion after they broke up, and now his proposal. Arnold wondered how Gerald was going to interrupt their kiss at the wedding.

Arnold's breathing was starting to get a little labored anyway, so he shifted Helga off of him and they both sat up. "I'm sorry, did that mean 'yes'?" he joked as he held out the ring again.

Helga shoved him in the shoulder, "Doi! Of course it means 'yes'!" She shoved her left hand in his face, "Now put it on! Put it on! Put it on! Put it on!" Arnold laughed again and kissed her finger as he slid the ring on.

Helga excitedly bit her lower lip as their eyes met again. She placed her hand and his chin and brought his lips up to hers. Just before kissing him again, Helga whispered, "Come here, fiancé." Arnold grinned ear to ear to hear Helga call him that. Helga kept her kiss passionate, but quick. With another squeal, she jumped to her feet and started waving her hand around, staring at the glimmer coming off of the stone.

Helga motioned to grab her cellphone, but was quickly tackled by an excited Asian-American girl.

"Phoebe?" Both Helga and Arnold shockingly called out to her.

"Oh, Helga! I'm so excited! You don't know how hard it was for me to not say anything!"

"Gerald?" Arnold stood up and crossed his arms as he glared at his friend, "what is she doing here, and what does she mean 'not say anything'?"

"Hey, man," Gerald held up his hands defensively, "you know I can't keep anything from her! She's like the KGB!"

"He did try," keeping her bear hug on Helga, Phoebe turned towards Arnold in order to defend her boyfriend, "I didn't find out until tonight."

Gerald shrugged, "She found the ring box. What was I supposed to do? She thought I was proposing to her!"

They all laughed and gathered around Helga so she could show off the ring. Arnold just stared at his future wife. She never looked so happy before.

Even though his proposal didn't turn out as planned, it was still the greatest night in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, I forgot to mention it in the AN of the first chapter, but I got the idea of Arnold's proposal from two different sources: the TV show "Frasier" and my husband's own proposal to me ^_^ Even though my Frasier OTP is Niles and Daphne, I still think the sweetest TV proposal was when Donny proposed to Daphne in the episode "Visions of Daphne." He told her that he remembered a story she told him where her dad stated that the only man who was good enough for her could lay the stars at her feet. He then held up the engagement ring he bought her and said "I've only caught this one so far but if you accept it I'll spend my life chasing the rest of them down for you." Try and guess how that fit in my story. ^_^
> 
> As for my husband, that is where the star registry idea came from. We fell in love with the movie "Serendipity" and there's a scene where the male lead notices that the female lead has a freckle pattern on her arm that resembles the constellation Cassiopeia. Well, I never noticed it before, but apparently I too have this freckle pattern on the same arm, and so he registered a star in that constellation. The star name is his proposal: [LycoRogue] will you marry me? (obviously he used my real name - first and last... hence the brackets)
> 
> Anyway, his actual proposal had the same sort of problems Arnold came across in this chapter. I've also noticed that just about EVERYONE has that story where the proposal didn't go as planned. I wanted something less sugary-sweet and more realistic while still a cute proposal story between Arnold and Helga, which brought me to this chapter.
> 
> How'd everyone enjoy the ride?

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there you have it. SUPER FLUFF! (fluff...fluff...fluff...) Yeah, I know, this was like that unicorn from "Despicable Me" (It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!). This story was like if the love-child of Marshmallows and Cotton Candy hooked up with the spawn of A Big Fluffy Bunny and Cotton Balls. This story would be the resulting super sweet and fluffy child. I also realize that nothing goes this smoothly in real life. I mean, seriously, ask just about anyone who is married or engaged and see if the proposal went ANYTHING like what was planned. Which is why there's a second chapter....


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